State of Grace
by ChinaE
Summary: A Series of WW snippets
1. Central Park Showdown

Title: Central Park Showdown.  
  
Author: Erika  
  
Feedback: funhapjoy@yahoo.com  
  
Pairing: None  
  
Disc: The characters are property of DC comics and their associated companies. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Dswaynne put up a challenge/request on the Wonder Woman's message board. This is challenge number 2: A quiet moment between Clark and Diana, while playing chess in Central Park.  
  
Just for the sake of writing, I am assuming both Diana and Clark remember the events at Valhalla.  
  
Beta-reader: Adrian, Pollyanna and Steve.  
  
~oo00oo~  
  
Clark and Diana had decided to meet in Central Park concerning the latest happenings to the Justice League membership. The loss of Batman had affected the team; his protocols and his subsequent dismissal had resulted in low team morale and bickering among the members. At their last JLA meeting, Clark had invited Diana to Manhattan hoping that the change of scenery would help them evaluate the situation better.  
  
Throughout their walk in the park, and their brief discussion to the Batman situation, Clark had taken note of how many people turned around to openly gaze at the woman beside him. Though dressed in ordinary clothes--he in his daily reporter persona and Diana in a professional dress, with a sun hat to match and dark glasses--she still attracted quite a bit of attention. One could not help but notice her beauty.  
  
He had asked Diana to meet him here, hoping to resolve the JLA crisis, and now they both found themselves sitting over a game of chess. He couldn't help but wonder if he had ever thanked her for all the support she had given him over the years. Clark knew that rumours about them still flourished, hinting at a possible romance between them and they would continue to do so as long as his secret identity remained hidden.  
  
Diana had never complained about the rumours, no matter how outrageous they sometimes got. She hardly seemed bothered by them; at least she didn't appear to be. He knew his own behaviour toward her at times didn't help to dispel the talk.  
  
Indeed, the events of the year gone by had probably resurrected many of the past insinuations within the heroes' community. Especially in discovering that in one potential future, they would have a child together and the one thousand years spent fighting in Valhalla had probably only helped fan the embers of a near forgotten flame.  
  
He wouldn't be surprised if many of their teammates speculated at this new closeness he now had with Diana. Even though nothing had ensued from those thousand years he and Diana had spent together, it was difficult to deny that their fighting ability had improved to the point that at times they fought like one entity.  
  
Indeed it felt as though they were reading each other's mind across the battle field, instinctively knowing each other's position, moving as one. Yes, a thousand years spent fighting side-by-side would do that. How could anyone, understand that first his grief over losing Lois and then their mission of theirs had provided obstacles to the possibility of a relationship developing between them.  
  
Valhalla had been a test of his will ... to survive, to fight, to live.  
  
And throughout that time, she had never pushed, never hinted that she was interested in changing or pursuing a relationship with him. She had respected his wishes and had instead concentrated on the battle before them, and in the process she had given his life purpose and direction.  
  
She had refused to allow him to fall into the grief he was feeling for having lost all he had loved. Instead she became his rock which he could lean on and with her support he had become a hero for all the people of Valhalla.  
  
He looked over at his friend and most trusted teammate, and noticed she was giving him a look that silently asked him, 'Are you okay?' It was then that he noticed he had not been following the conversation, or the game.  
  
"Clark, it's your turn," she said, the hint of a smile in her eyes.  
  
He looked down at the chess pieces and reached for his knight. "You know, Diana, we should do this more often."  
  
"Hmm. If you want, I'll schedule you in my appointment book. How are Tuesdays for you?" She asked, looking down at the board, a strange smile hovering over her lips.  
  
He held the knight in his hand. "You have an appointment book?" he asked her, telling himself it was merely out of curiosity.  
  
"Yes... if Tuesdays are a problem..." she left the question open for discussion.  
  
"No, they're not," he reassured her.  
  
"We could meet on Mondays. I'm sure, I could convince Arthur to meet me on Tuesdays instead."  
  
"Arthur?" Aquaman? Diana and Arthur?  
  
"We meet every Monday morning," she informed him.  
  
"Oh. I see." Clark said, putting the knight down on the board.  
  
She looked down at the board again, raised her hand and reached for a game piece. She smiled at him, arched her right eyebrow and stated, "Checkmate."  
  
He glanced down at the board. Her queen had cornered his king. He glanced back up at her, but she had already gotten up to leave.  
  
"I'm sorry Clark, but I have a meeting with Artemis in one hour."  
  
"Of course," he said, getting up himself.  
  
"We'll meet at the watchtower, as usual?"  
  
"Umm...yes."  
  
He watched as she walked away from him all the while thinking, Arthur and Diana?! Aquaman and Wonder Woman?! He sat back down. J'onn would probably know. He would ask him in the next JLA meeting. With that planned in his mind, he got up and headed back for the Daily Planet. 


	2. ER

Title: ER  
  
Author: Erika  
  
Feedback: funhapjoy@yahoo.com  
  
Pairing: None  
  
Disc: The characters are property of DC comics and their associated companies. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Dswynne put up a challenge/request on the Wonder Woman's message board. This is challenge number 3: A quiet moment between Diana and Artemis right after Diana's would-be foe has checked into an ER room (and is listed in critical condition).  
  
Beta-reader: Adrian.  
  
~oo00oo~  
  
They had been here, staying in the waiting room, for the past two hours. Both of them were still covered in grim. They stood slightly apart. Waiting. The critically injured man they had brought with them was still in surgery.  
  
"Diana." Artemis called to her Amazon sister, who stood by the doorway. Diana had her arms wrap around herself and was deep in thought. "Diana." Artemis repeated.  
  
"Artemis," Diana said in a hushed voice. "If that man dies ..."  
  
Artemis sighed. They were back to this again. "You had to decide whom to save. There wasn't enough time." Her voice was cold, clinical. A simple statement of fact.  
  
"No. I had deemed him unworthy."  
  
"No." Artemis denied, shaking her head. She refused to let Diana believe otherwise. "I know you little sister."  
  
"Do you?" Asked Diana questioning how Artemis could know her, when she felt as though she did not know herself. The events of the afternoon unfolded before her.  
  
They had been in Boston visiting Julia and Vanessa, when they heard over the radio how a man had made his way inside a Women's Shelter. He was holding women and children hostages in exchange for information to where his ex-wife and kids were now residing.  
  
Both she and Artemis had gone into an explosive situation prepared for the worst but hoping negotiations would make the man give himself up. But things had unraveled.  
  
Explosives had been put in the children's play room, brought in by the hostage taker.  
  
They needed to get the women and children out safely, so as Artemis protected the back of the building waiting for Diana's signal to enter, Diana had tried to reason with the man but she had failed.  
  
There hadn't been enough time, from the moment the explosives were set off to the moment she had send Artemis the signal to go in and rescue the hostages. There hadn't been enough time, she kept repeating to herself, but a part of her wondered whether she was using that as an excuse. The last person they had rescued had been the hostage taker. First the women and children had been safely accounted for and then she had worried about the man responsible for the damage, and it now pained her to realize she had put some lives before others.  
  
As an Amazon she had been taught to value all life, but she deep down she had been angry about the man's action against her fellow sisters.  
  
Did it affect my judgement?  
  
"Diana." Artemis called to her in exasperation. "You did ... we did all we could."  
  
"Did we?"  
  
"He was the person closest to the explosion ..."  
  
"Then I should have rescued him first ..." Diana answered.  
  
" ... and let the innocent die?"  
  
As Diana processed the concept, Artemis pressed her advantage. "If you were Cassie and she asked you those questions, what would you advise her?"  
  
Diana briefly paused. "I know you're right ..."  
  
"You feel it in your mind but not your heart." Artemis finished for her.  
  
"When did you get so wised, oh dear sister." Diana gently teased her.  
  
"Sometimes teachers must become students and sometimes if a student is lucky, they get the best teachers. Come on little sister, it is time we visited the other patients."  
  
They move away from the emergency rooms and headed toward the children's ward, were those whom they had rescued that day waited for them. 


	3. Mars and Venus the Age old question

Title: Mars and Venus the age-old question.  
  
Author: Erika  
  
Feedback: funhapjoy@yahoo.com  
  
Pairing: None  
  
Disc: The characters are property of DC comics and their associated companies. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Dswynne put up a challenge/request on the Wonder Woman's message board. This is challenge number 4: A day on the town with Diana, Donna and Cassie.  
  
  
  
Location: In Ottawa, about 3 blocks away from the Parliament building there is this really friendly, nice open market.  
  
~oo00oo~  
  
A week had passed since Diana's meeting with Clark in Central Park. She was now in Ottawa with Donna and Cassie, spending a quiet time walking through the city's open market. They had picked Ottawa as their point of rendezvous as it offered them relative obscurity from prying eyes. They were walking by the fruit stands when they came upon an open area where the sidewalk vendors sold clothing. All three were looking through the cloths racks when Cassie spoke up.  
  
"Um ... guys?" Diana and Donna stopped and glanced over at her. "Who was your first?"  
  
"Cassie!" Donna proclaimed aloud.  
  
"I mean, the first guy you kissed?"  
  
"Oh ... well it was Roy Harper."  
  
"You two are like dating again, right?"  
  
"On and off," explained Donna. "Why the sudden interest?"  
  
"You know," at Donna's continued glared Cassie hurriedly confessed. "I was like interested. It's not like I can ask Artemis."  
  
"I see," Donna said trying to hide her grin.  
  
"Has someone kissed you, Cassie?" Diana asked, as Cassie started to blush.  
  
"Umm..."  
  
"Cassie?" Diana and Donna both asked patiently.  
  
"Yes," she confessed reluctantly.  
  
"Was it Robin, because it couldn't be Impulse he's still too young ..."  
  
"Robin?" Cassie asked, looking at Donna questionably.  
  
  
  
"Dick used to look so good in tights."  
  
"Donna." Diana warned her twin, catching sight of Cassie's confused expression.  
  
"Who's Dick?" Cassie asked curiously.  
  
"Never mind that Cassie," Diana reassured her, sending her sister another look. "You were telling us, who kissed you, remember?"  
  
"Oh." All thoughts about this Dick person were tossed aside as Cassie remembered the young hero who kissed her.  
  
"Well ... we're waiting." Donna gently teased.  
  
"Superboy." Cassie confessed glancing everywhere but Diana. She finally gave up trying to ignore her mentor and took a peak at Diana's face.  
  
"That was my second guess," Donna proclaimed watching from the sidelines.  
  
"It was just one kiss," Cassie reassured them.  
  
"So, do you like him?" Donna asked.  
  
"I guess," seeing their expression, "yeah."  
  
"It's okay to like them, Cassie." Diana reassured her a smile hovering over her lips.  
  
"It is?"  
  
"You won't get thrown out of the Amazon nation, if that's what you are wondering." Diana shook her head. "You won't. Now Cassie, don't feel like you can't talk about boys to Artemis. She too is your mentor. She won't stir you wrong."  
  
With that said they walked to the other stands. Diana reached over to buy some flowers. "Neither of you is going to ask me who was the first person I kissed?"  
  
Not wanting to make her feel left out, Cassie explained. "But we all know it was Superman."  
  
"Really?" asked Diana raising her eyebrow.  
  
"Well yeah, ... you mean it wasn't?" One of the first things she, Secret and Arrowette had discussed after joining the Young Justice League was the history of their mentors. The relationship between Superman and Wonder Woman had also been analysed, studied, researched and studied some more. Now Cassie was stunned that the main man-in-tights hadn't lip locked with her mentor, Diana. When the heroes had been de-aged, by Klarion the witch boy, and the young heroes in turn aged to adulthood, afterwards when everything had gotten back to normal Impulse had commented that a young Diana had looked pretty.  
  
Of course Superman must have kissed Diana, the Young Justice Leaguers had concluded. How could he have resisted her, they thought? Surely, they had argued, if Impulse could even notice a girl this had to be further proof that here was a Superman/Wonder Woman connection. After all, Kon-El had pointed out, Superman was smarter than Impulse.  
  
  
  
"You mean he didn't?" asked Donna who was the first to recover her voice. It was a known fact they had kissed. The kiss had become accepted as truth in the hero's community. It had gotten a status of mythology, all by itself. Now to find out it wasn't, surprised her. She knew that the Superman topic was something she still felt she could not openly discuss with her older twin.  
  
"Oh, we did kiss ..." she said holding their attention and waiting until they started to fidget to conclude, Aonce."  
  
"Only once?" Donna asked putting aside her preservation of discussing this topic.  
  
"Once," confirmed the princess.  
  
"But if he wasn't the first, who was?" Cassie excitedly asked. Ha! Wait until she tells the guys that Diana did lip-locked with Superman.  
  
Diana just smiled and paid the vendor who handed her the wrapped flowers.  
  
"Diana." Warned Donna who was surprised in discovering her sister had such a teasing nature.  
  
"But it had to be Superman," Cassie objected remembering the article Robin had uncovered in Batman's files. The article mentioned Superman and Wonder Woman had dated. AI mean you came, you conquered, you kissed."  
  
Diana just continued to smile. "It happened before I entered the patriarch's world," and with that said, the princess walked away from them and headed toward the vegetable stands. Behind her, she left a stunned Donna and Cassie who upon sharing a look both mouthed the words, 'she kissed a girl?'  
  
"Diana," they heard a man call to their friend.  
  
"Arthur." The saw as the princess smile a greeting to Arthur, King of Atlantis. "I'm surprised to see you here." She told him as he approached her.  
  
"I am attending a conference with officials about the conditions of the water in the Arctic. I'm concern at the volume of activity, specifically military and oil carrying vessels in that area. A spill could ..." he stopped finally noticing the other two people with Diana. "Donna. Cassie." He greeted them.  
  
Cassie just blushed and Donna smiled in greeting. "Arthur."  
  
"Actually Arthur, we were just talking about you." Diana unexpectedly revealed.  
  
"We were?" Both Donna and Cassie asked in surprise.  
  
"Yes." Diana confirmed. "They have a hard time believing we met before I entered the patriarch world."  
  
"Do you know Diana, no matter how hard I tried, I never again could find Themyscria." Arthur said wistfully.  
  
"You mean, you actually were there?" Cassie squeaked.  
  
"Yes. I believe you were about fifteen when I first met you, right Diana?"  
  
"Yes." Diana confirmed.  
  
"Ladies, it was a pleasure seeing you again." Looking at his guard who was standing a close distance behind him, he nodded to him and turned his attention back to the women. "I need to get back to the meeting, I believe the lunch break is finally over. Diana can I talk to you for a moment. I received a disturbing message from J'Onn, something about the personal mating habits of mammals. You know I beginning to think we really need to get him away from those Oreo cookies ...."  
  
  
  
Meanwhile both Donna and Cassie seemed grounded with shock. Arthur. Aquaman. He kissed Diana. He kissed her before Superman.  
  
"If we tell anyone ..." Cassie started to say.  
  
"... they won't believe us." Donna finished for her.  
  
They both rushed in the direction where they last saw Diana walking with Arthur. As they caught up with them they tried to decipher every look, gesture and smile shared between the two heroes.  
  
'Boy wait until I tell the guys,' Cassie thought. Meanwhile beside her, Donna was thinking, 'Hm ... we really should have more of those sisterly discussions. I wonder if Garth knows anything about this?' 


	4. Stargazing

Title: Stargazing.  
  
Author: Erika  
  
Feedback: funhapjoy@yahoo.com  
  
Pairing: None  
  
Disc: The characters are property of DC comics and their associated companies. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: Dswynne put up a challenge/request on the Wonder Woman's message board. This is challenge number 5: A quiet moment with Diana, who is stargazing.  
  
Beta-reader: Adrian  
  
~oo00oo~  
  
In the past this used to be her most special time. To stand before the gods, worshiping them. It had been a daily ritual of hers, to gaze upon the night sky and offer worship to the Greek gods above. Even when she had joined the patriarch world, she would visit this quiet area behind Julia's house and spend her nights asking the gods for guidance.  
  
She smiled briefly remembering those occasions when Vanessa would lecture her on the appropriateness of worshipping one's gods in the nude. She wrapped the cloak tighter around her shoulders, her uniform providing little protection against the cold night. Once, she had looked up at the stars in awe. But that was long ago. It sometimes seemed a lifetime had passed from that young woman who had stood here in awe of her new world to the woman she had now become.  
  
As a child she had wanted to fly as high as she could and reach for the stars, hold them in her hands and in a way she had. How small one seemed when compared to the vastness of the universe. Did Earth shine as brightly to stargazers in other worlds? A part of her wondered if out there among the stars and planets there was another little girl trying to unravel the mysteries before her.  
  
She let go of the cloak, letting it drop the ground and flew to the skies going as high as she could, staying there looking up at the stars and fighting the Earth's gravitational pull. Now and then, when things seemed bleak a part of her missed the innocence she once had. Over the years, as she fought and moved forward her message of peace and equality she found herself, at times, losing perspective and hope.  
  
For how long would she have to compromise her beliefs? For how long would she have to fight? How much of herself would she lose in these battles? But all these doubts, fears, lay forgotten when she looked up to the stars above and thought, 'Everything is possible.'  
  
"Diana." J'Onn called to her telepathically from his look out at the JLA watchtower on the moon.  
  
"Yes." She answered back.  
  
"Are you alright?" He asked her, concerned clearly noted in his voice.  
  
"Just star gazing my friend," she reassured him.  
  
"I see." Clearly he did not, but he was willing to let this go.  
  
"J'Onn?" Diana asked a hint of mischief indicated in her thoughts.  
  
"Yes?" J'Onn asked cautiously.  
  
"Is it true, you asked Arthur about the strange mating habits of mammals?"  
  
J'Onn broke off the connection between them and Diana found herself chuckling softly. In case her friend was still listening in, she send along a message. "Not everything is as it seems, and sometimes friends are just friends. Mind you, he is a great kisser ..."  
  
She flew back to Julia's, humming softly feeling better than she had in a long time. 


	5. War Room: Songs and Memories

Title: War Room: Songs and Memories.  
  
Author: Erika  
  
Feedback: funhapjoy@yahoo.com  
  
Pairing: None  
  
Disc: The characters are property of DC comics and their associated companies. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Beta: Pollyanna.  
  
Summary: Dswynne put up a challenge/request on the Wonder Woman's message board. This is challenge number 1: A quiet moment between Diana and Hippolyte in the WW trophy room.  
  
~oo00oo~  
  
Among the debris that surrounded her, the only thing that remained untouched was the Wonder Woman lunch box that lay on the ground. Years ago, Myndi Mayer's PR firm had approved the production and sale of various Wonder Woman merchandise. At the time, Diana had been slightly aghast at seeing both her face and name on items unrelated to her mission but in time she had learned the value of marketing one's cause. She had even brought back some of the memorabilia to show her mother who had put the items on display in the War Room.  
  
Diana picked up the lunch box and looked around at her once proud home. At the buildings that were destroyed and at the dust that still refused to settle. They had saved the planet but at what cost? So many of her Amazon sisters lay dead or injured.  
  
And they had lost their Queen.  
  
"You are not Wonder Woman." Her words, spoken to her mother in anger, kept repeating themselves in her mind.  
  
Diana closed her eyes, tightly blinking back the tears.  
  
She hadn't meant ...  
  
She turned around and walked back in the direction of the square, dropping the lunch box to the ground.  
  
Just a few months ago, before the civil war, she had paid a visit to Themyscira. The other Amazons had informed her the Queen was spending some quiet time alone in the War Room. As she entered the building and walked down its long corridor filled with mementoes of Wonder Woman's time in the Patriarch world she could hear music from the end of the hallway. Jazz. Billie Holiday to be precise.  
  
"Mother?" Diana had called out. She could hear someone humming down the hallway and as she approached the open room Diana watched as her mother gently swayed to the music, a smile on her lips.  
  
Diana coughed softly and Hippolyte quickly turned around. A blush rose along the Queen's cheek. Hippolyte ran her hand through her long curly hair, tucking a stray lock behind her ear.  
  
Diana smiled. She could hardly remember a time when she had caught her mother unaware, acting -- well -- unlike a Queen.  
  
It had been a day filled with surprises. Memorable ones.  
  
That day they had talked. Truly talked. Like mother and daughter. Like women. Like equals, who both wore the Wonder Woman mantle. They had shared stories on things that still confused them about the world outside their home and for the first time they had talked about men.  
  
She had told her mother about Superman and the one thousand years spent fighting by his side, while her mother had related her growing respect for the Justice Society heroes, in particular for Jay Garrick, the Flash.  
  
And just as the day had changed into night Diana had shared with Hippolyte her most guarded secret. In the future she would have a son -- Jonathan.  
  
Upon hearing this news her mother had stared at her in shock and slowly Diana had found herself recalling the events that led to her meeting her future son.  
  
So often in the past their role as Queen and princess had interfered with their ability to connect as women. Except for that day. A day she could never have back. Could now never be repeated.  
  
"You are not Wonder Woman." Words said in anger to be regretted forever.  
  
"Mother forgive me." Diana said quietly. Silence surrounded her. Silence was her answer. 


End file.
